Flexi-Cleat™ Conveyor System: Steep-Angle Conveying

Imperial's Flexi-Cleat is another unique solution for providing clean steep-angle conveying in the shortest distance between load-point and discharge. The Flexi-Cleat Conveyor is a new belt design that can be loaded, and will convey bulk material at angles of greater than 45 degrees.

This unique belt, with the semi-circular, flexible cleats, receives material and carries the load in a 20 degree or 35 degree trough section. This greatly improves the possible volume over using a flat, cleated belt of the same width.

The overlapping flexible "U" cleats guarantee that the product will not spill out over the side. Once the belt has been loaded, it acts as a collection of curved bottom buckets carrying the bulk material product for discharge. The "U" shaped cleats flex open as they pass around the terminal pulley relieving material from the cleats. As the belt flattens out over the head pulley, the material migrating toward the edge of the belt is contained by the elongated edge of the overlapping cleats.

The return run sections are constructed of stainless steel or utilize UHMW liners to maintain a low-friction ride smoothly toward the tail. Any material sticking to the base belt or cleats is contained and returned to the tail where it is reloaded by the cleats acting like shovels while rotating around the tail pulley in Imperial’s reloading tail section.

This simple design has been used on shot blast, ash, sulfur and recycled trash handling systems and applications where the conveyor profile is in excess of 45 degrees.